Richmond Free Press July 29-31, 2021 edition by Richmond Free Press

VOL. 30 NO. 31

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

JULY 29-31, 2021

More than gold

Casino gets green light from Richmond City Council

Gymnast Simone Biles stuns the world, her teammates and her competitors by withdrawing from Olympic team and individual all-around competition to focus on her mental health

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Richmond is moving closer to achieving its dream of having a gambling resort in South Side. The proposed ONE Casino + Resort has leapfrogged two more hurdles and is on track to be on the Nov. 2 ballot seeking the required approval from city voters. Monday night, City Council cleared one hurdle by unanimously approving agreements between City Hall and the selected operator, RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Black media giant Urban One, which is seeking to open its first gambling operation at Walmsley Boulevard and Commerce Road at the Bells Road interchange with Interstate 95. The agreements authorize the development of the gambling-entertainment-hotel project, call for the city to gain at least $29 million a year in revenue from the operation, promise nearly 1,000 full-time jobs with first preference to Please turn to A4

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Washington Football Team opens training camp A7, A10

Free Press wire report

Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles was expected to again helped lead the American team to gold medal glory at the Tokyo Olympics just as she had at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Instead, the reigning queen of the sport help draw attention to the stresses that top athletes face Tuesday after she voluntarily withdrew from further competition, citing concerns about her mental fitness to continue. After the Russian team won the gold and Team USA settled for silver in the team competition, Ms. Biles faced the media to explain why she had pulled out, breaking down in tears as she sought to explain. She said that the stress got to her. She withdrew from team competition on Tuesday and from the final individual all-around competition on Wednesday. “Whenever you get in a high stress situation, you kind of freak out,” the 24-year-old Texas resident told reporters. “I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my Please turn to A4 Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Simone Biles waits to compete on the balance beam during the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in early June in Fort Worth, Texas.

Racism of rioters takes center stage in Jan. 6 hearing By Aaron Morrison The Associated Press

Andrew Harnik/Associated Press, pool

Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, left, and Officer Harry Dunn of the U.S. Capitol Police show support for one another following their emotional testimony Tuesday before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

It had only been hinted at in previous public examinations of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection: Scores of rioters attacked police officers not just with makeshift weapons, stun guns and fists, but with racist slurs and accusations of treason. Four officers, two from the U.S. Capitol Police and two from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, on Tuesday detailed the racism and bigotry they encountered during the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol. Their direct, harrowing accounts laid out the hours when the pro-police sentiment of supporters of former President Trump was pushed aside, consumed by the fury of wanting to keep him in the White House. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn told lawmakers about an exchange

RPS will reopen with mask requirement

Richmond Public Schools will reopen Sept. 8 under the inescapable cloud of the COVID-19 delta variant, with officials announcing that students, teachers and staff will be required to wear masks in schools and on buses regardless of their vaccination status. Superintendent Jason Kamras stated in his daily RPS Direct, “We (RPS) will be maintaining our 100% mask-wearing policy for all students, staff and visitors. We feel this is the safest course of action, particularly with the surging delta variant.” Mr. Kamras also said getting vaccinated helps to ensure face-toface learning can continue. Right now, there is no vaccine available for children under 12, another factor contributing to the district’s decision to mask up. The RPS Direct message also strongly encouraged everyone 12 or older to get vaccinated right away if they haven’t already done so. Nearly all new infections of the coronavirus are occurring in unvaccinated individuals, according to state health officials. The state Department of Education announced last week that mask policy decision will be left to local school divisions to decide based on data, local conditions and guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Please turn to A4

he had with rioters, who disputed that President Biden had defeated Mr. Trump in the November 2020 presidential election. When Officer Dunn, who is Black, argued with the rioters that he voted for President Biden and that his vote should be counted, a crowd began hurling the N-word at him. “One woman in a pink ‘MAGA’ (Make America Great Again) shirt yelled, ‘You hear that, guys, this n----- voted for Joe Biden!’ ” said Officer Dunn, who has served more than a dozen years on the Capitol Police force. “Then the crowd, perhaps around 20 people, joined in, screaming “Boo! F------ n-----!” he testified. He said no one had ever called him the Nword while he was in uniform. That night, he sat in the Capitol Rotunda and wept. Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, House

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a member of the panel, said the Capitol and D.C. officers would provide insight into “what it was like to be on the front lines.” However, Officer Dunn also was speaking to the experience of being an African-American police officer, who make up 29 percent of roughly 2,300 officers and civilians serving on the Capitol Police force. Officer Dunn said another Black male officer told him that, while confronting the rioters on Jan. 6, he was told to “Put your gun down and we’ll show you what kind of n----you really are!” The panel’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, pressed Officer Dunn further about how he felt being an African-American officer facing down racists and enduring Please turn to A4

Silk Hair Studio becomes touch point for COVID-19 vaccination effort By George Copeland Jr.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Joshua Thompson, 14, gets the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine from nurse Christina Carney in a Richmond Health District mobile clinic van on Tuesday. His mother, a registered nurse, brought him to the pop-up vaccination event at Silk Hair Studio on West Broad Street. The salon provided space for people to be registered and to wait during the 15-minute post-vaccination observation period.

Silk Hair Studio bustled with talk and activity Tuesday afternoon, though not just about hair care and other conversations between patrons in dryer chairs. The salon, located on West Broad Street near the Science Museum of Virginia, served as a walk-up COVID-19 vaccination site for the Richmond and Henrico health districts. According to co-owner Renada Harris, the salon is one of a thousand similar businesses providing space to reach people where they are in the continuing battle to protect Americans against COVID-19. The Richmond salon was part of a nationwide effort spearheaded by the Biden

administration to transition from large vaccination events to smaller sites to better reach the unvaccinated. African-American barber shops and hair salons like Silk Hair Studio were highlighted as a key part of this initiative because of their connections to their communities and their ability to advocate for inoculation. Ms. Harris said she was very interested in doing what she could to help the effort to shore up the community’s well-being against the virus. “We’re just trying to do our part with getting the community vaccinated,” said Ms. Harris, whose salon adheres to many safety guidelines to protect its customers

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines

Fun at RPS Summer Fest

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following location: • Thursday, July 29, 4:30 to 6 p.m., Henrico West Health Department, 8600 Dixon Powers Drive, drive-thru event. Appointments are not necessary, but can be made by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by registering online at https://bit.ly/RHHDCOVID. Testing will be offered while test supplies last. A list of area COVID-19 testing sites is online at https://www.vdh. virginia.gov/richmond-city/richmond-and-henrico-area-covid-19testing-sites/

Gerald Brown, 5, outdistances his 4-year-old sister, Gabrielle, during a sack race last Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School during RPS Summer Fest. The event, sponsored by Richmond Public Schools, provided information for families on how to enroll students for the upcoming school year, while offering music, entertainment, art stations, books and refreshments. A second event will be held 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 31, at the Broad Rock Sports Complex, 4825 Old Warwick Road. Rain site: Broad Rock Elementary School, 4615 Ferguson Lane.

Want a COVID-19 vaccine? The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free walkup COVID-19 vaccines at the following locations: • Thursday, July 29, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Washington Football Team Training Camp, 2401 W. Leigh St., Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson; 9 to 11 a.m. – Care Advantage Inc. West End Office, 3201 Hungary Spring Road, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson; 1 to 3 p.m. – Care Advantage Inc. South Side Office, 10041 Midlothian Turnpike, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

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Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press